I grew up in the 80’s – with neon shirts, shoulder pads and pop music. I loved it – Ok, not all of it. I didn’t love music. I liked music. I did the alternative thing with The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Camper Van Beethoven – and I did the mainstream thing with Duran Duran, Madonna and Culture Club. I went to some concerts, not many. In my defense, the only music playing in our house was Bollywood soundtracks and Sanskrit prayer chants (fun fun!)

Cut to college.

I meet a boy. He was consumed with music. Consumed. An entire wall of his room was dedicated to (alpha order) CDs. He went to as many concerts as he could get to. He listened to everything. He literally had a soundtrack for every occasion. Music was (is) his life. He made me tapes.

Then I met a girl. She would be the yin to my yang for my college years and beyond. Smart, sassy, funny – all my favorite things in a human. Later in life she would go on to marry my boy’s best friend. True story. She also loved music. She listened to singers and bands that I’d never heard of. It wasn’t alternative – it was totally underground and phenomenal. She made me tapes too.

That was awhile ago. Those CDs are now packed away in big cases (he almost teared up the day we put them away), and I don’t even own a tape recorder anymore. But I still have all the tapes. And the music is still strong.

My kids know more about The Beatles and The Stones than I ever will. My husband usually calls my daughter when he wants to hear a new group. They’ve already been to more concerts than I went to in my entire childhood. My pal is happily married with a kido – and listening to amazing musicians, I’m sure of it.

Me? I play along…get it…play….like a guitar…or a piano….

I know you all don’t demand proof of my insane ramblings – but I like to provide it anyway…Here’s what used to be 95% of my husband’s life.

Now it’s 80%….85% tops.

So besides supplying me with amazing music – my gal was also an artist. Every tape she made me had an original design. She did funky, cool collages before it was cool to do funky, cool collages. Thought you should know.